MCU-Based Project Enhances Dance Game

Using Wavelet Transform Microcontrollers are perfect for systems that need to process analog signals such as audio and do real-time digital control in conjunction with those signals. Along just those lines, learn how these two Cornell students recreated the classic arcade game “Dance Dance Revolution” using a Microchip PIC32 MCU. Their version performs wavelet transforms to detect beats from an audio signal to synthesize dance move instructions in real-time without preprocessing. Topics Discussed How to recreate the classic arcade game “Dance Dance Revolution” using a Microchip PIC32 MCUHow to do the hardware designHow to do the audio processingHow to do the software designHow to analyze the results Tech Used Microchip's PIC32MX250F128B MCUSean Carroll’s PIC32 development boardsDiscrete wavelet transform (DWT)GNU Scientific Library, We designed a version of the traditional arcade game, “Dance Dance Revolution,” that synthesizes dance instructions from any audio source using the PIC32 MCU. Unlike the original game, in which users must choose from a pre-selected list of songs, our system allows users to plug-in their audio device and play songs of their choice. The dance move instructions are then generated in real time by buffering the audio and processing it, using the discrete wavelet transform. We were inspired by a mutual desire to work on a music-related project, and both of us had fond memories of playing this kind of game. We also wanted to add some sort of novel, interesting component, so we brainstormed the idea of allowing the player to play whatever song he or she wanted. The game is much more fun when the song playing is your favorite tune. All versions of the commercial game have pre-programmed song libraries, so replay value is limited. Our version has no such limitation. The discrete wavelet transform was selected as a processing method because we needed both time and frequency resolution. We also needed a computa